Motor vehicle provided with four



Jan. 21', 1936; R. J. DEVILLERS 1 IOTORYVEHICLE raovmsn WITH FOUR INDEPENDENT WHEELS I Original Filed Jan. 25, 1929 L'I'IHIIIT Ream! an. 21, 1936 UNITED $1 My invention MOTOR VEHICLE IND Ben Jean Devillers,

mesne assignm gesellschaft, many, a corpora Ori No. 335,084, reissue June 22, France January 2 12 Claims. (Cl. 280-412) vehicles with wheels and the a construction of such vesteering and easy ridtime steady and stable.

may be understood by reference to the following description taken in Fig. 1 is a hicle;

20 Fig. 6 15 the In the movement of manner that 35 planes parallel Fig. rectilinear for movement longitudinal the central will be with the accomp a diagrammatic m thereof and in which:--

front end elevation the invention; mi ar view showing when driving around a comer; Fig. 3 is a side elevation; Fig. 4 is a rear e hicle embodying Fig. 2 is a si hicle when driving bodies with. the tw a single axle or transverse member from which disadvantages arise wheels which the body is spring-supported, from gyroscopic reactions set up forces in opposition steering, mechanism by and which cause the well known shimmying" the front whe tages have been wheels for indepe vehicle, as appearing when one w over an obstacle.

customary mounting of front or in planes par plane of the when read in connec ing of Fig. 1 most quickly conveys the idea in- Analysis, however, will show that the expression is inexact. are turned in the steering movement, it is the usual substantially vertically steering illustrated) which moves in a plane plane a may be slightly inaccurate on account camber of the pivot, but the mo such anying piston suspension 3.

ofa

levation of such 9.

end elevation of steering of the 19,832 rnovnmn wrrn FOUR EPENDENT WHEELS ents,

Paris, France, assignor, by

to Daimler-Benz Aktien- Stuttgart-Unterturkheim,

Ger-

tion of Germany ginal No. 1,915,649, dated June 2'7, 1933, Serial January 25, 1929. Application for Serial No. 2'1 ,875.

connection drawing illustrating in anner a single embodiment motor Vethe vehicle motor. ve-

Fig. 5 the rear end elevation of the motor vearound a corner;

the motor heel is passing automobile wheels on in itself, is herein shown diagrammatically in the wheels Since the nd here aga niceties of expres guided for movement by the spring cylinder and v I have just described this mounting as one in which are guided allel to the central body, believing that this tion with the showfront wheels pivot (not parallel to in the language of possible tion in question well understood by those ski 55 art aside from lied in the sion. Fur- Fig. 2.

ly, when a take a similarly the track thereby causing an easy steering of 6 the wheels. 7

In an attempt to obtain the advantages with respect to steering arising from such a mounting of the front wheels and also to obtain the advantages arising when the vehicle is passing a' rough road from independently spring-supported wheels, vehicles have been constructed in which both rear wheels and front wheels have been mounted in the manner described. Vehicles thus road well and the comfort of the occupants is diminished because of a tendency which they show to accentuated rolling movement and to a large lateral inclination as compared with ordinary motor cars. made by me have demonstrated that there was a serious error of conception in constructing cars in this manner and in accordance with my present invention '1 have therefore provided for independent mounting of the rear wheels in different manner.

The subject may be understood from the following analysis. Referring to Fig. 1, if we imagine the vehicle shown as turning a corner, the body of the car under the influence of force will lean over towarfi the outside of the curve and take an inclined position, as shown in The wheels 1, however, because of their method of mounting remain in planes equidistant from the central plane of the body.

the body inclines, the front wheels I inclined position. The resistance of the road acts at the ground-engaging portions of the tires and the wheels tilt laterally about these points as the road. The bodyof the car follows the movement of the wheels and pivots about a point J also located on the road surface.

Now, if the rear wheels are similarly arranged,

the axis of motion of the car body as a whole is 45 over 10 constructed, however, do not hold the The scientific experiments a quite centrifugal Consequentpivots located on the surface of being relatively remote from wheels 2 so as to permit angular so swinging movement of their to the central longitudinal planes with respect plane of the body.

It will be apparent that since the wheels 2 are independently mounted they may move to pass over obstacles without tilting the body, as shown in Fig. 6. Under conditions such as above described tending to tilt the body the action at the The said two centers of movement J and J1 define an axis about which the body as a whole swings,whichislineJ JiinFig.2. IfGis the center, of gravity. the lever arm through my invention, therefore, is stable against overturning movesuspension and the steering advantages of constructions of the type illustrated in Fig. 1.

As seen from the location 01" the line J-J1 in Fig. 2, if the height of the center above ;the road s length of the lever location of the center of gravity, I prefer to locate this cenble towards the rear or at least rearwardly of the central transverse plane M-M.

I am aware that the invention may be 'em-' bodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and 'I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respect as illustrative and not restrictive; reference being bad to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

I claim: 1. A motor vehicle comprising an underframe having front and rear pairs of wheels, each ment,

' of gravity, that axis of'lateral inclination for the body as a whole ascending from front to rear.

5. A motor vehicle as defined in claim 4, wherein the mass thereof is distributed to define a rearwardly located center of gravity, that is, nearspring-supported for individual movement, a supporting device for each front wheel comprising a guiding member connected to the underframe, a wheelcarrier provided with a second guiding member said second guiding member cooperating with the said first guiding member in such amanner that it is guided in a vertical direction parallel to the longitudinal central plane of the vehicle by the said first guiding member and gitudinal central plane and spring means for springing, said half axles against the underframe so as to define an elevated swinging center for lateral inclinations of the body, the two centers defining an inclined axis of lateral inclination of the body as a whole ascending from front to rear.

. '1. A motor vehicle comprising an underframe having front and rear pairs of wheels, each wheel independently connected to the underframe and spring-supported for individual movement, the front wheels being provided with a steering device for steering each front wheel and each front wheel being mounted on the underframe in such a manner that when the steering device is" not and down in such a manner that the direction of such movement being substantially parallel and equidistant from the central longitudinal plane of the vehicledefines a swinging center for lateral inclinations of the body at the ground and the rear wheels each being mounted to permit angular swinging movement of their planes relative to such central plane, whereby to define a body said center being located above the converging point of the axes of rotation of the rear wheels the said two centers defining an inclined axis of lateral inclination for the body as a whole ascending from front to rear. v 8. A motor vehicle as defined in claim 7, wherein the mass thereof is distributed to define a rearwardly located center of gravity, that is, nearer the rear wheels than to the front wheels;

9. A motor vehicle as defined in claim '7, wherein, under normal load of thevehicle, the rotation axes of the rear wheels extend in a substantially a vertical plane transverse to the aforesaid lonactuated the said front wheel as a whole moves up swinging center for lateral inclinations of the horizontal direction, and the center for lateral inclinations of the bodyis located above these rotation axes of the wheels.

10. A motor .vehicle comprising an underframe having front and rear pairs of wheels, each wheel being independently connected to the underframe and spring-supported for individual movement, a supporting device for each front wheel comprising a guiding member connected to the underframe, a wheel carrier'provided with a second guiding member said-secondguiding member cooperating with the said first guiding memher in sucha manner that it is guided in a substantially vertical direction generally parallel to the longitudinal central plane of the vehicle by the said first guiding member and permitting a steering movement of the wheel so as to define a swinging center for lateral inclinations of the body at the ground, and spring means for springsupporting the wheel against the underframe and a supporting device for the rear wheels comprising half axles each carrying a wheel and mounted for swinging movement in planes transverse to the aforesaid longitudinal central plane and spring means for springing said half axles against the underframe, so as to define an elevated swinging center for lateral inclinations of the body, the two centers defining an inclined axis of lateral inclination of the, body as a whole ascending from front to rear.

11. A motor vehicle comprising a body, an underframe therefor, a pair of front/wheels and a pair of rear wheels, spring tensioned means for connecting each of said front wheels to said underframe, said means being so constructed and arranged that transverse swinging of the front part of said body and frame is about a center substantially at the ground, and spring tensioned means for connecting each ,of said rear wheels to said underframe, said second mentioned means beingso constructed and arranged that transverse swinging of the rear portion of the body and frame is about a center located above the converging point of the axesof rotation of said rear wheels, the said .two centers defining an inclined axis of lateral inclination for the body as a whole ascending from front to rear.

12. A motor vehicle as defined in claim 11 wherein the mass thereof is distributed to define I RENE JEAN DEVILLEBS. 

